Fluids, particularly liquids such as water, are susceptible to being contaminated with toxic species and other unwanted organic compounds. As such, there are several methods used in various industries to decontaminate and treat such contaminated fluids. These methods include sonication, hydrodynamic cavitation and/or the use of chemical reactions, particularly aided with a catalyst.
However, several of these existing methods are often limited in their effectiveness due to physical and/or spatial constraints. For example, hydrodynamic cavitation, which relies on the increase in fluid flow turbulence and occurrence of cavitation, or gas voids/bubbles, is often limited to decontaminating the specific localized areas where cavitation occurs. Thus, a significant portion of the fluid flow would need to be exposed to cavitation in order for effective decontamination to occur. Another example is the use of catalysts to initiate chemical reactions that destroy or modify such unwanted chemicals to render them safe. Often, a single or uniform type of catalyst is employed which may only be effective in targeting a fraction of the unwanted compounds.
It should therefore, be appreciated that there remains a need for effectively decontaminating liquids, including enhancing existing decontamination methods to improve the destruction of toxic species and other unwanted organic compounds. The present invention addresses this need and others.